Our unincorporated neighborhood of 100 homes is inundated with coyotes. Prior years we'd see one or two. Currently we are seeing packs of 6 roaming our streets. They are out as early as 7 at night and are seen throughtout the day. They make killings typically every night and awake our residents with their shreaking cries. I can't remember the last time I've gotten a full night's sleep. At what point can something be done to regain our neighborhood as we are becoming the minority I have a 3 year old husky/lab mix. There is no way that she could protect herself from a pack. She is having accidents in the house because she is afraid to go outside. She just stands with her noise in the air, with the hair on her back up in fear. Our association does not allow for fences so most residents have electrical fences to maintain our pet within our acre yards. We all know the rules, don't feed, keep watch on small children, small dogs. But the abundance of coyotes are becoming a major nuisances and I'm sure the population will be increasing substantially within next few weeks with new pups being born. What deterrents can be put in our neighborhood to keep them out? Summertime is a time to be outside. I don't want to be a prisoner in my house with the coyotes ruling the outdoors.

If the coyotes are not causing property damage or killing pets, there is not much to be done. They are protected by law and serve as important predators, keeping rabbit and rodent populations under control.That being said, I know they can be quite loud. And dealing with pets that are afraid of the coyotes is also very frustrating. The electric fences should keep them out of your yard. It sounds like your neighborhood is taking all the right steps. Coyotes are very smart and aren't going to take any unnecessary safety risks. So when people see them they should shout at them, shake cans with rocks or make other loud noises. The idea is to show the coyotes that the area is your territory and you do not want them around. What you don't want to have happen is that the coyotes feel comfortable hanging around when people are around. That's when they become more bold and that's when issues can start.

Same neighborhood. Here's comment from another resident. "We had a situation the other day, Raymonds German Shepard was on his 40 foot chain in the back yard and he was surrounded by 6 coyote's. If it wasn't for Karen calling our house we would not have known. My son ran out with a baseball bat to scare them away. He did say that they were not showing their teeth or growling, they almost looked like they were just checking the dog out but it was really scary!" Question: why do we have to wait for harm to our pets /children before something can be done? It's like installing a stop light at our corner after a student was killed on the first day of school.

I hear what you are saying. It is a balancing act. No one wants to have pets killed or injured. But trapping the coyotes just because they are close to human populations is not a viable solution. (The state does not have the financial or manpower resources do this anyway). The coyotes, like all wildlife, have a place in the web of life. Because they are predators, there is a natural reaction to be scared of them. But there are over 30,000 coyotes in Illinois. Most have a healthy fear of humans. And most of them will never cause an incident. The coyotes were obviously interested in the German Shepard. But if they had negative intent, they would not have been standing around, they would have attacked the dog. The tricky part is that most people are not trained to know the behaviors of coyotes. Just seeing them around can be perceived as being threatening, but coyotes can and do live peaceably in and near our neighborhoods. However, without seeing the coyotes' behavior myself, I can't say if they were just interested in the dog, or if they are starting to test. If this is happening a lot, and the neighbors are worried that the coyotes are acting aggressively and need to be removed, there are licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators who can trap and euthanize the coyotes. They do charge a fee for this service. It would be better to do this prior to pups being born.

Same neighborhood. A resident raised a question as to if the coyote decoys used to keep the geese out of neighbors yards are actually attracting the coyotes into them. Please advise on this matter and provide where information can be retrieved to give to these residents if this is the case.

A coyote that is extremely territorial may come in to check out the decoy, but once it realizes the animal is not a real coyote it should not be attracted back to the site. If the decoys are successfully keeping away the geese it is better to keep them up. Geese can cause a big mess. Easier to deal with a couple of coyotes than a bunch of Canada geese.